Team RYYY
by TheFibonacciSequence
Summary: Ruby gets placed on a team with Yang, Yang and... Yang... Wait, What?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story started as total crack so updates will be sporadic at best - this story will also be Enabler though probably quite slow burn so consider yourself forewarned.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

-X- -X-

For Yang Xiao Long the week had started off on a high note.

She'd woken up feeling fresh, polished her newly upgraded gauntlets in celebration and headed into town for some shopping, getting home just in time to learn her baby sister would be going to Beacon with her.

She'd left for Beacon and, barring a certain situation involving an airsick boy that couldn't keep it down, things had been nothing but good and getting better; Ruby had already made a new friend, the initiation was underway and she'd already landed like a badass.

All that was left was getting a partner.

As if on cue a blur of red blasted through the brush and the blonde jumped forward, arms outstretched to catch the hyperactive bundle of teenage girl.

"Yang!"

The name was spoken with such happiness that she couldn't help but grin. "Ruby!" She returned, beaming as she nearly crushed her tiny baby sister in her arms.

Things were definitely going her way.

On the other side of the forest a blonde girl dashed through the undergrowth, grinning widely as she slammed a yellow gauntleted fist into the skull-like mask of an Ursa grimm.

For Yang Xiao Long the week had started off on a high note.

She'd woken up feeling fresh, polished her newly upgraded gauntlets in celebration and headed into town for some shopping, getting home just in time to learn her baby sister would be going to Beacon with her.

She'd left for Beacon and, barring a certain situation involving an airsick boy that couldn't keep it down, things had been nothing but good and getting better; Ruby had already made a new friend, the initiation was underway and she'd already landed like a badass.

All that was left was finding a partner; she'd have preferred to get that step out of the way first but at least as it was she got to strut her stuff and vent against some, admittedly weak, grimm. "C'mon, is that all you've got?" She taunted, cocking Ember Celica.

Across the clearing another girl cackled, whirring like a bright yellow top as she threw another of the troupe of Ursa she'd found herself against across the floor, slamming the bear-like beast into a tree and sending an arc of black through the air.

"Nice!"

Well, looks like she'd found her partner.

High above on the cliffs overlooking the forest the man known to the world as Ozpin furrowed his brow, taking a sip of his coffee as he watched his students.

"Sir?" Glynda Goodwitch had been the headmaster's aide for a great many years now and if there was one thing the woman had learned it was that when the man reacted as he was it meant something either terrible or _bizarre _was either about to happen, was already happening or had happened.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. Glynda, remind me; how many applications did you '_erroneously'_ receive from Taiyang's girl?"

The woman paused at the question, lips tugging into a frown at the memory of more paperwork. "Three, sir." She grumbled.

Ozpin looked away from the screen briefly to acknowledge her words. "And you… Approved all three?" He queried.

Glynda couldn't remember telling the headmaster about Yang Xiao Long's applications however she didn't mention that aloud, instead nodding once primly. "Indeed, sir. It wouldn't do for clerical errors to ruin a young woman's chance at becoming an aspiring huntress." She paused. "Is there a problem, sir?"

Ozpin hummed, turning back to the screen and flicking to another camera. "…No, no problem." He assured her, absently tapping an errant finger against the edge of his cane. "No problem at all."

On the screen a golden blur blasted through a tree, sliding to a halt and hastily rolling away from the lumbering foe before her.

For Yang Xiao Long the week had started off on a high note.

She'd woken up feeling fresh, polished her newly upgraded gauntlets in celebration and headed into town for some shopping, getting home just in time to learn her baby sister would be going to Beacon with her.

She'd left for Beacon and, barring a certain situation involving an airsick boy that couldn't keep it down, things had been nothing but good and getting better; Ruby had already made a new friend, the initiation was underway and she'd already landed like a badass.

Now all she needed was a partner, so naturally she'd done what she always did – Ran straight towards the nearest, largest commotion she could see and started punching everything that moved. "Come on! You can do better than that!" She laughed, swinging towards the huge Ursa before her in a swift uppercut.

The grimm's head shot back and the rest of it followed soon after, tumbling across the floor and landing in an uncoordinated pile against a tree; the beast had scarcely a second to wonder if it should have stayed home before the blonde huntress-in-training was throwing a straight that sent black mist spraying across the clearing she'd found herself in.

"_Nice!"_

Yang smirked, throwing her hair back out of her face and turning dramatically. "Why thank y-you…" She trailed off.

Opposite her Yang stared back, amethyst eyes widening. "_Uh_…"

The two stood there, staring at their doppelganger with the same stunned confusion and slowly the one that had just been complimented smiled. "Oh, I get it. This is a dream, huh?" She chuckled.

Yang's brow furrowed as she took in the copy's words and she frowned as she pinched herself, hissing at the sharp shock of pain that raced through the spot.

Her opposite smirked as she repeated the gesture however the expression dropped as she felt the same pain she'd just witnessed. "Ow." She intoned dully, staring blankly at herself.

Both blondes stood there, unsure of how to proceed until, finally, Yang decided to bite the bullet.

"So, you-" _"Well, thi-" _Their standoff began anew. Yang slowly licked her lips as her clone narrowed its eyes and pointedly opened her mouth. "I…" She paused, perking up slightly when the other… Her? When the other her didn't interrupt. "…Like to start my day with a _Yang, _but this is ridiculous!"

Those big violet eyes widened in stunned disbelief, lips parting in shock as she took in the words of wisdom she'd just imparted upon her. _"…That's true. I'd say you must be my evil twin but that's totally something I could _see myself saying."

She grinned. "Is that so? Well I have been known to _dubble _in _punography."_

"_Well, that's good at least; I guess no matter how long you take you won't need to _copy _me."_

"I've got time, it's not a race." She paused. "But if you're trying to _outpun_ me you're not nearly as _twice _as you look."

Was this heaven?

Meanwhile, across the forest, Yang Xiao Long was having trouble keeping up with her own partner. "Ruby, stop running!"

"Come on Yang!" Ruby laughed as she dashed towards the stone circle ahead of them.

Nearly two hours of fighting Beowolves, Ursa and even a few king Taijitsu hadn't worn the huntress-in-training down a single bit and she grinned as she spied the chess pieces sitting atop their respective pedestals.

"Ruby please, _slow_ _down_." Yang sighed, brushing her hair back away from her forehead and trudging uphill after her sister. The blonde still had plenty of energy to throw around but she had to admit that trying to keep up with the redhead was almost an exercise in futility; regardless of how fast she went she found that the younger girl just somehow got _faster. _"It's not a race!" She twitched, unsure at the déjà vu she suddenly felt.

For Ruby Rose the week had started off on a high note.

She'd helped foil a robbery, met an actual _Huntress _and then been invited by the headmaster of Beacon itself to attend a whole two years early and to top it all off she'd both made a friend _and _got on the same team as her sister.

Yeah, Ruby was feeling pretty good right about now.

Her gaze roamed over the pieces on display before them but before she could choose Yang casually meandered past, swooping in and lifting one of the small golden horses. "We get the cute little pony." She smirked impishly at her younger sister and Ruby pouted, eyeing the other pieces.

She paused. "Hey Yang, aren't some of the pieces missing?"

Yang looked over the other pieces, noting the absence of several black relics as well as both the rooks and their pieces duplicate. "Huh." She tsk'ed, gaze flitting over the other pieces. "Welp, guess our teammates are already out there."

Ruby blinked, tilting her head adorably. "What, you think they'll put us in teams based on the relics we get?" She voiced, scrunching her nose as she recalled professor Ozpin's way of putting them together for the rest of their time at Beacon. "I… Guess I can see them doing that." She admitted.

As in on cue a rumble shook the ground and the two of them looked around, spying thick plumes of smoke rising in the distance. "I wonder if that's them?" Yang voiced, absently scratching at her neck while she watched a series of flashes light up the horizon.

Ruby furrowed her brow, shaking her head as her sister continued to stare. "Yang, let's go!" She finally ordered, huffing as the blonde jolted.

"R-Right!" As the redhead dashed off Yang grimaced, a low groan escaping her. "Not again!" She whined, arms pumping as she made to follow.

-X- -X-

Ruby grinned as she dashed past the tree line, sliding to a halt and taking in the colossal structure before her.

Thick, arcing spires loomed overhead and as she glanced down she could see just how far she would fall if she wasn't careful. "Okay, maybe slow down a little." She finally acknowledged her sister only to blink as she realized that the blonde was nowhere to be seen. "Oh. Uh… Oops?"

"_Ruby!" _

A familiar voice drew her attention and she spun on her heel, taking in the girl running towards her in surprise. "Yang? Whoa, you got here quick. I thought you were behind me?"

Yang's brow furrowed. "What? No, never mind that. Or… _Nevermore _that." She grinned and an ear-piercing squawk resounded through the area.

Ruby's face fell and slowly she shook her head. "Yang… No, just no." She sighed as the older girl pouted. On the other side of the massive crumbling tower ahead she could see Jaune fending off a Deathstalker and she would have dashed over were it not for the colossal bird looming overhead, swooping between the spires of each building with a casual grace. "So," Yang spoke up once more. "You got a plan?"

Ruby stared, shooting her a look and then watching as the bird continued to weave around the tower. "A plan?" She repeated. "How about go around, get up the cliffs and shoot it? 'cause I really don't wanna fight it _here_."

The redhead emphasized her point by gesturing towards the massive drop they faced should they slip up and Yang's face fell, the prospect of avoiding a fight foreign to the older teen. "But… Oh, alright." She relented. "I'll get my partner and we can get out of here."

""Partner"?" Ruby squinted up at the blonde however before she could ask Yang was already dashing across the bridge back towards the tower.

"_Ruby!" _Yang burst onto the edge of the cliff with a sharp gasp and Ruby stared. "Don't run ahead like that!"

Ruby continued to stare, slowly turning to where her sister had dashed away and her lips twitched. "_Wow_, Yang. That's actually _really_ cool!" She acknowledged.

Another shriek echoed across the cliffs and she jumped, locking eyes with her sister and as one they turned their eyes to the sky.

"_I hope you're hungry!" _A flaming golden figure's voice drifted down to her and Ruby swung her scythe, switching to its sniper form as she looked through the scope.

Long blonde hair, violent red irises and of course she recognized the gauntlets currently slamming into the Nevermore's mouth. Another yell sounded and she barely had time to adjust her vision before what looked like a yellow comet smashed fist first into the flying beast, the girl in its mouth barely clearing her position as the bird plummeted.

Yang fell from the mouth of the Nevermore, sliding down the side of the building and running across one of the spires as a makeshift bridge.

"Okay, what?" Her sister spoke and she jumped, turning to look between the two blondes with wide eyed confusion. "That-That's not me. That's badass," Yang acknowledged begrudgingly. "But it's still not _me."_

The other blonde slid to a halt, eyeing her strangely before, with a snort, she shrugged. "Trust me, you get used to it."

"Used to it?" Ruby piped up and _another _blonde flipped over the edge of the cliff, landing in a four point landing and pretending that she didn't feel the jolt of pain that ran through her knees at such a position.

"Used to it." She nodded.

"So there's three of me now?" The new Yang sighed and Ruby furiously pointed at her, swinging her finger between the other two look-alikes. "Great, this'll be easy to differentiate."

"Don't even." The other Yang huffed, running her hands through her golden locks. "I'm having nightmares already."

"No seriously, _what?" _Yang continued to watch her two doppelgangers warily. "Ruby, am I going crazy or-"

"There are three of you." The redhead interrupted.

"…I thought so." Her sister sighed, shaking her head as both copies just shrugged. "Okay, so there's three of me. Two fakes." _"Yup." "Pretty much." _From their tones the two clearly didn't view themselves as the fakes and Yang was torn between groaning and punching the imposters in the face.

"Also, don't punch me in the face, 'cause I will punch back and you _know _I have a mean right hook."

The girl on the bridge nodded along with her cliff-side copy's sentiments and Yang groaned.

A distant squawk sounded from the mist far below and the three shared a look. "We should probably move. That thing's gonna be back and I don't think it's too pleased right now."

Reluctantly Yang nodded at her clone's point, turning to her sister and coughing at the girl's blank-eyed stare. "C'mon Rubes, we'll sort this out once we're back at the cliffs."

Ruby blearily nodded along, allowing herself to be pulled along as she stared at her sister's back. Er, _backs._

-X- -X-

"_-From this day forward you will work together as team Juniper."_

Ozpin continued to announce the teams as though nothing were wrong and all three blondes shifted awkwardly. It was pretty obvious what was wrong yet nobody in the hall seemed willing to address it.

Of course, to the unknowing students in the crowd nothing was really _wrong; _they just looked to be a group of triplets that were lucky enough to be placed together. Still, Yang was sure she wasn't alone in her confusion at the fact that Ozpin hadn't noticed one of his students seemingly duplicating themselves. _"Led by Jaune Arc." _Or perhaps the old geezer really hadn't been paying attention when they were all launched.

"_And finally," _Yang straightened, positive he was about to address the elephant in the room. _"Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Yang Xiao Long and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as team Rye."_

The crowd mumbled their confusion and Yang choked on air as he still didn't even seem to notice anything off.

"Uh, professor Ozpin?" Ruby frowned, shuffling on the spot as she suddenly seemed to notice that an entire crowd was watching her. "Isn't there something… Off? About-"

Ruby's courage failed her at the last second however Ozpin merely nodded as though he'd been expecting it. "The team names don't necessarily have to be colours." He offered after a second of thought and all four _stared._ With a short hum the headmaster turned back to the crowd. _"Led by Yang Xiao Long."_

Wait, what? "Which one?" Yang voiced their collective confusion and Ozpin hummed once more.

"Yes." The man offered by way of an answer and all four teens shared a look of stunned disbelief. "Looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." He noted.

"Oh, what the fuck." Yang sighed even as her other two doppelgangers shared an enthusiastic yet confused high five.

With team announcements out of the way the crowd below began to disperse and Yang pointedly ignored the interested looks some of the male students and even a few girls shot their way. "So..." Ruby squeaked, swallowing as three pairs of amethyst eyes turned her way. "…I got nothing."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

-X- -X-

"So… _How_ did this _happen_?" Yang spoke up, leaning across her baby sister protectively and pointedly ignoring the twin glares leveled her way.

"How should I know? I'm in the same boat as you!" Yang huffed, hands on her hip as she twitched towards the youngest girl in the room.

Nearly thirty minutes had passed since the initiation ceremony and in that time Yang had quickly realized something crucial to their team dynamic.

None of them were willing to let the others near Ruby.

Oh sure, her little sister could take care of herself but against two imposters at once? Yang knew that if they were even half as competent at hand-to-hand as she was (And from what she'd seen during their time in the forest _they were_) then the smaller, less experienced girl would have trouble.

Already she could see the other copycat in her peripheral edging forward, sharp amethyst eyes layered with steel as she watched her carefully. "Try it." She challenged and immediately the tension erupted, all three blondes coming together in a whir of howling, over-protective big sister-on-big sister violence.

"STOP!"

Yang froze and she could see her two look-alikes follow suit, three pairs of amethyst eyes darting over to her sister. She wilted slightly beneath the redhead's glare and reluctantly disengaged, slowly untangling herself from the other two and leveling them with a suspicious gaze.

Ruby exhaled sharply, drooping as she slouched before them. "You're all acting like children! No-" She cut across her sister before she could speak, the closest girl's mouth immediately snapping shut. "-You are! I get that this is weird and confusing for you, it's weird for me too but- but we've gotta keep things together. I don't know how this happened but it did and there's three of you now and nothing's gonna change that. So let's just… Talk this out."

Those words were subjective at best and out of the corner of her eye she could see two equally suspicious stares being sent her way; still, her sister was trying so she knew that she could at least also try for her sake. "Ruby…" She considered how best to phrase her worries to the younger, more impressionable girl. "…I'm worried that these two have less than pure intentions towards you."

Immediately she wished she'd phrased that a little better and both of her copies shot twin looks of disgust her way, noses scrunching as they leaned away. On Ruby's end she just tilted her head, confusion clear in her stare.

"W-What I _mean _is I don't trust them around you." She flinched as both girls threw their hands up in derision. "Because I don't _trust_ their intentions towards you."

One of the other blondes stepped forward, eyes flashing a violent red as she stared her down. "She is my _sister._" She hissed and instinctively Yang shoved her back, hands curling into fists as she snarled back at her.

The third blonde took the opportunity to step closer to her sister and pursed her lips as she watched them gear up to fight once more. "Is that what I act like?" She whispered uncertainly to the younger girl and Ruby hummed as she nodded.

"_Step away from my sister!" _Both angry huntresses rounded on the disconcerted blonde and she swallowed as she obeyed the order, realizing for the first time just how intimidating she could be when she was angry.

"Calm down!" Ruby huffed and both girls rounded on her as well, faltering when they saw her quail beneath their crimson stares.

The two turned back to one another and jolted when they saw the guilt on the others face, both forcing themselves to calm down. "Ruby…" Yang shook slightly. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine!" Ruby pasted a smile on her face, understanding in the face of their situation. "This- This is a weird thing to happen, but we're at Beacon now. We're gonna be huntresses and as a team we have to trust each other, no matter how… Strange things may seem right now."

"R-Right." Yang sighed, absently rubbing at the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to make things so… So hostile."

As Yang slumped forward, head in her hands, the least agitated of the three had a moment of realization. "Wait a second," She spoke up, licking her lips when all eyes turned to her. "We all have the same semblance."

A beat passed and simultaneously the two other blondes turned to one another. "We… Have the same semblance."

The notion that all three had the same semblance was absurd; a semblance was a unique representation of what made a person special so for three people to have the _exact same _one meant that… They had to be the same person. You couldn't _copy _an aura after all.

Ruby's mouth dropped open. "You really are _all Yang."_

"Thanks, you're pretty neat yourself Rubes-" "You're not so bad yourself, sis-"

Their sister groaned at their all too obvious responses before pausing to offer the girl beside her a curious glance and Yang merely shrugged, offering a smug grin. "I knew that was gonna happen and I like to think I'm _better _than that."

"But…" Ruby's brow furrowed. "We know you're not." She observed and as Yang pouted she turned from the other girl and smiled. "Well, at any rate I think we should give you all different names cause four years of this is gonna get old _real_ _quick." _Four years. The three other girls shared a look and Ruby's face fell. "What?"

"Well…" Yang rubbed at her arm self-consciously. "I don't think that's gonna… Happen."

"Wait, what?" Ruby blinked. "What do you mean "Not gonna happen"? You're not leaving are you?" The three blondes looked away and silver eyes quivered. "But I-I thought you wanted to become a Huntress like me?"

"What?" All three turned back to her and another of the group took up the task of consoling the redhead. "Of course I'm gonna be a huntress, Ruby. But this," She gestured to the other two girls. "Is obviously something we need to talk to Ozpin about."

The clueless girl paused, scratching at her head as she gazed at three nervous faces. "Okay… I still don't get it."

"Well, we need him to fix this." Yang pointed out.

Her sister continued to stare. "What? How could he fix this?" She voiced her confusion and the girls shared awkward glances. "He's not a wizard, Yang. I mean at worst he'll lock you up, _all three of you,_ in a lab until they figure something out… At best he'll send you home cause he thinks you're nuts and you'll have to tell dad how you cloned yourself twice and then flunked Beacon. I mean, he didn't even bat an eye at the team ceremony…" She trailed off.

Yang slapped her hands together in synchronicity with her copies. "So, names." She interrupted woodenly, a smile pasted onto her face. "I don't think 'one, two and three' is gonna cut it."

"Did… You forget that he didn't care and think that he'd know something just because he's headmaster?" Ruby pushed and her expression became just a little bit falser.

"I've got it!" The least vocal thus far of their trio spoke up and they all turned to look at her. "How about 'Yang', 'Xiao' and 'Long'. Eh, eh?" She prodded.

"Well, as Ruby's partner I call dibs on Yang!" The 'original' smirked as the other two scowled. "And you can flip a coin for yourselves."

"Well," The as-of-yet unnamed blonde reluctantly spoke up. "I guess that makes sense. I call heads!"

"Damn it, I was gonna call heads."

Ruby covered her face with her hands, exhaling sharply into her palms. _"This is my life now." _She moaned.

Yang snickered.

-X- -X-

"I wish _I'd _called heads." Long muttered for the second time, amethyst orbs glaring across at the other blonde.

Xiao rolled her eyes, sharing a smile with Ruby as she made the motions of the other girl's mouth with her hand.

The brooding teen glared between the two, a long suffering sigh escaping her as she dropped down onto her bed. "Fine, whatever. I'll be _Long."_ She groused.

"_Long-faced, _y'mean!" Yang cut in and both the other blondes snickered. "_Xiao Long, _though?"

Ruby groaned, face dropping as she stepped away from the other girls. "Of all the weird things to happen these past few days this has to be the worst." She spoke flatly, pouting as all three shared a mischievous grin.

"But Ruby?" Xiao started innocently. "I thought you wanted me on your team? I'll admit they were _Long odds, _but-"

"I'm not doing this all year - You get one more and I'm cutting you off!" She glared, daring the three to contradict her.

Yang glanced between her other two teammates and both girls nodded, sharing a solemn look. "We'll save it for later." She decided as her sister eyed her suspiciously.

"Well… Good, then." Ruby crossed her arms, nodding primly. "Now, I'm gonna get ready for bed and we can decorate in the morning."

As their sister made for her luggage her teammates all paused, blinking in synchronicity as they turned their attention to three identical suitcases.

The four beds were themselves identical in design and decoration; thick, sturdy wooden frames covered by red quilts and a pair of white pillows and Ruby felt confident that the spot she chose in the far right corner wouldn't be contested by the others. "Night Yang. Er, night Xiao. Night… Long." The redhead's brow furrowed and even the scrape of wood on carpet failed to distract her from the sheer wrongness of that statement. "Okay, that last one is _not _gonna… Work…" Ruby trailed off, staring in confusion at the three beds that seemed to have moved closer.

Yang peered over the edge of the closest bed, pasting a wide awkward grin on her face and beside her Yang or Xiao or… Long… also peaked over. "Sorry Rubes, what was that?"

"This isn't working!" The girl blurted, throwing her covers off and climbing to her feet. "Wait right there!"

A blur of red heralded her movement and their third teammate pulled herself over her own bed, sharing a shrug with the other two only to yelp as small hands grabbed at her leg, wrapping a purple piece of cloth around her thigh.

A similar cloth was quickly produced and another of the blonde triplets stared, bemused as she allowed the youngest girl to replace the white cloth already in place with the plain black strip of fabric. "Now you're Yang, Xiao and… Yin. Like Yin-Yang."

A quick glance and Yang hummed, rubbing at her own white cloth. "I can get behind that. I gotta admit I was getting tired of trying to tell you two apart as well." By sheer dumb luck their sister seemed to have guessed her right yet the other two merely scowled, swapping their own coloured identifiers and rushing for the closest bed. "Oh no you don't!"

Ruby's attempt to climb back into bed was quickly interrupted by almost identical cannonballs vaulting towards her and she gasped as she bounced into the wall, reproach clear in her gaze as she looked over at the sheepish girls. "What's up now? Isn't that good enough?"

"What?" Xiao blinked and quickly shook her head.

"No, it's fine! Yin's fine sis, you just go to sleep." Yin smiled convincingly, absently elbowing Yang in the ribs as she edged around her.

"Y-eah, it's _fine_." Yang grunted, clawing the covers.

Ruby stared as the three tried to subtly claim the bed nearest her and groaned as she realized what they were doing, sparing a second to drop back into bed before immediately shooting back up. "Okay, new plan. Connect the beds." She ordered.

"What?"

Pointedly ignoring Yin's confused query, Ruby pointed towards them. "Connect. The. _Beds_." She ground out and the sight of her innocent little sister being so ornery quickly had all of them springing into action, wooden legs scraping across the carpet once more.

The four beds fit together well and Yang scratched at the back of her neck, flitting between the four connected beds and her sister. "Okay, now what?"

"Now _you_ go to bed." She huffed, pale face flushed a frustrated pink as she glared up at the staring blondes. "And if we're all in the same bed then you'll know when someone tries something." She remarked and the sheer faux-sweetness lacing her voice had all three flinching.

"Ah, right." Memories of unimpressed silver eyes came to her mind, staring down at them as they stood there, covered in dirt and looking up at her with a gap-toothed grin and for once Yang didn't feel even slightly surprised when the others dropped down beside her. "Now wha-"

"Let me sleep Yang! This day has been too weird!"

Beside her Yin shrugged helplessly and she sighed, wrapping an arm around the lookalikes waist and narrowing her eyes at both her and her other new sister.

"I've got my eye on you two." She grumbled and her cheeks burned as a powerful set of arms returned the favour, loosely draping across either girl's shoulders.

"I don't know why you're complaining, not every night ya get to go to sleep with two hot blondes on either arm… Why the longfaces?" Xiao beamed and at the resulting hiss from the far right all three stifled their chuckles.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

-X- -X-

Ruby woke to a series of thuds.

The sound of something hitting the floor wasn't exactly a quiet one however the second that followed was what pulled the redhead from her slumber - the racket that followed however wasn't something she could sleep off if she tried.

Across her shoulders she felt a powerful arm pull her in and she squawked in indignation as she felt herself get dragged flush against bare skin. _"I knew it!" _Her sister roared and even through the well-formed lats of the older girl she could hear the anger in her voice.

"Yang!" She squeaked, hastily shoving the blonde back with both hands. "What the heck!?"

Red orbs blinked back at her and suddenly she found herself grabbed up once more, smooth yet calloused hands lifting her up like a newborn kitten and pulling her away. "Get away from that _sick_ freak, Ruby!" Her sister's voice sounded behind her and she blinked, craning her neck to take in twin expressions of rage.

The events of the previous day came rushing in and Ruby groaned, wrestling herself free from Y-_Yin, _free from Yin's overprotective hold, thankful that apparently the girls had left on their 'markers'. "What the heck," She repeated, scowling over at the three blondes. "Are you doing? It's-" Her gaze drifted quickly to the floor and she paused, gawking at the small clock that had previously been on the nightstand. "-Five AM! Why did you- No, _what _are you even doing?"

Yang huffed, crimson eyes flickering back to their usual lilac as she eyed the other two duplicates. "You don't understand sis, I woke up and _that _one was hugging you!" She pointed accusingly at the girl furthest from her and Xiao glared back at her, nose scrunching as she growled.

"I was not!" Xiao refuted, face flushed as Ruby raised an eyebrow. "And so what if I was? That's what happens when you sleep next to your sister!"

"No, it's not!" Yang howled, flinging herself at the defensive girl and Ruby groaned once more as yesterday repeated itself, rubbing at the bridge of her nose.

"Enough!" Surprisingly enough it wasn't her that cut across the fight about to break out and her eyebrows threatened to rise into her hairline as Yin crossed her arms, marching forward. "Look at her!"

A gauntlet-clad hand pointed towards her and despite herself Ruby raised a finger, indicating herself in confusion.

"Yes, you." Yin nodded firmly. "Can't you two see that she was just trying to sleep? There was clearly nothing nefarious going on! Now, I know we just wanna protect her but you have to realize that Ruby is training to be a huntress now, she can protect herself."

Ruby beamed as the two previously squabbling girls shuffled awkwardly on the spot, slowly disengaging from one another and looking away shamefacedly.

"Which is why _I'll _be sleeping next to her."

Instantly the looks of shame vanished and this time Ruby was treated to the sight of all _three _of them lunging at one another, fists flying as they spewed vitriol. A sudden thump on the wall of their dorm drew her from her misery and she flinched as a gruff voice sounded through the walls. _"Shut up, some of us are trying to sleep over here!"_

"Enough!" She finally yelled, shaking her head in consternation. "It's a moot point anyway because I'm not going back to sleep!"

All three girls froze and slowly began to untangle themselves from the ball of righteous fury they'd bunched themselves into. "Oh." Xiao said calmly, blinking as she turned away from her twins. "Well that's okay then. So what's the plan sis?"

A whimper escaped the smaller girl and she simply looked up at them, silver eyes dull with frustration. "I'm not the team leader here." She reminded them.

"Decorating!" Yang yelled from the ground and all three gave her an odd look. "What? We've gotta make this place a little homelier, right?"

"Do we have different stuff?" The question came from Yin and their gazes all went from the girl's curious face to their identical suitcases.

Yang hummed nonchalantly. "Well, we've definitely got the same clothes and underwear." She offered and the fact that only she gave the blonde a look of disgust only distressed Ruby further.

"True." Xiao offered, making her way over to their luggage and unzipping the inner compartment only to pause as she pulled out a pair of keys with a yellow flame icon attached. "Do… We only have one Bumblebee?"

The other two blondes froze.

"That…" Yang started only to trail off. "I'm not sharing." She glared and the two were quick to return the expression.

Their sister groaned, face falling as the three headstrong brawler's began to shift. "Can we _not _do this again?" She grimaced, looking between them with a weary kind of defeat.

Yang paused, gaze flitting briefly to the keys in her hand before, with a sigh, she dropped them back into her suitcase. "Okay Ruby, we'll deal with that later."

Ruby perked up, spotting her apologetic expression and smiling in return. "Thanks Yang." One of the others cleared her throat and the redhead's gaze shuttered. "You too, Yin… Xiao." She tacked on, rolling her eyes as the other two preened.

"So!" Xiao beamed, patting her duplicate on the shoulder and stepping forward. "Decorating!" She paused. "Where are we putting the beds?"

"Put 'em together against the wall." Yin suggested and the other two looked across the room in consideration, making her way to their luggage and unzipping her own bag.

"Under the window, y'mean?" Xiao considered, tapping her chin with her index finger as she tried to imagine it. "I can get behind that."

"Wait!" Ruby blurted, wide silver eyes darting between them. "I thought we could have each corner or, or, uh… Bunkbeds! Yeah!"

Yang smiled, patting her on the shoulder. "I do like the idea of bunkbeds Rubes, but…"

Ruby looked up at the older girl, brow furrowing. "But…?" She prompted.

"…I don't trust 'em not to pull anything in the middle of the night." Xiao piped up, crossing her arms as she leveled the two other sheepish blondes with a look. "So I'm gonna stay as close as possible to you, ergo _they're _gonna want to as well."

"_Guilty as charged!" _Both Yin and Yang spoke in unison and the latter grinned, shooting her copy with finger guns playfully as the girl rummaged through her stuff.

"But- But _why? _Is this what you would've done if there were two other girls on the team?" Ruby pressed, pouting as the other girls paused.

"Well, no." Xiao admitted, absently scratching at the back of her neck. "But I know me much better than them so I know not to trust myself like that."

Ruby stared between the three awkward girls, blinking innocently as they all nervously looked away. "Sounds like you got some issues to work through." She pointed out nonchalantly. "Still, even if you can't trust yourself you can trust _me _to look after myself, right?"

Yang shook her head, chuckling ruefully. "Of course, Rubes. But two on one isn't something I want you to have to deal with in the middle of the night." Her duplicates shot her a glare even as they begrudgingly nodded at the point.

"Oh." Ruby hummed, shrugging as she considered that point. "Well, if you're positive I guess it'll be like a sleepover!" Midway through her statement the younger girl began to perk up, eyes sparkling as she framed the room in her head. "Yeah! If you're all not total butts about the beds we can play videogames and eat junk and it'll be just like back home."

"Yeah!" Yin cheered, apparently unbothered by the twin glares shot her way. "It'll be awesome – and unlike you two I just realized we've all got the same stuff so we probably won't be cramped or anything."

Both Yang and Xiao frowned at the realization that the other two basically owned the same stuff however quickly both began to imagine the room in its entirety, reluctantly conceding that saving on space might be for the best.

"_Shame about the bunk beds though." _Ruby murmured and in the scarce room all three heard, sharing identical grins.

-X- -X-

"-And I still think that three of anything is better than one."

Ruby Rose wasn't an idiot; she could see that her sister(s) was just trying to push for some sort of individuality – why, exactly, that push came at the cost of her sanity however was something she truly couldn't grasp.

Beside her a blonde figure casually took a bite out of her toast, amethyst orbs sparking with challenge as she glared at an all-too-similar girl. "I think that too much of anything is a bad thing, regardless of how awesome it may be."

"And what exactly is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Auuugh." Ruby groaned, forehead meeting the table with the sound of solid wood on wood. _"You both think the exact same thing, stop pretending you don't please."_

"Hah, true!" "That's not true!"

Yang grinned as Ruby shot her an evil glare. "_Shut up, Yang." _She mumbled and the blonde just grinned wider, nodding towards her and sharing a look with her duplicate on the other side of the girl.

Yin returned the look, briefly pulling her attention from their 'argument' and noticing their other sister's attempts to talk to one of their old friends from Signal. "I think some people are starting to realize how weird this is."

Yang blinked, looking at the small crowd leering from one of the other tables and shrugging half-heartedly. "Nah, 's fine." Even as she spoke the other girl knew she was thinking the same and so she just huffed, grabbing at Xiao's shoulder and yanking her back over to their table.

"Hey!" She scowled, brushing her look-alike's hand off. "What was that for? Oh!" She smiled. "Team meeting?"

"_You're the team leader!" _Ruby grumbled into the table.

"Technically." Yin acknowledged.

Yang scowled playfully. "Excuse you? Ozpin said 'Yang Xiao Long' was the leader of RWBY. I'm only seeing one 'Yang Xiao Long.'" She preened.

Yin snorted. "I think you need your eyes checked."

Before they could devolve into another argument Ruby abruptly shot up, growling at all three of them and pointedly ignoring the cooing adoration she received in response. "Enough already! It's bad enough you're making me sleep with all three of you-"

"_Ruby!"_

"-But now you're trying to do this at breakfast too? I get that you're having some sorta mid-life crisis-"

All three blondes shot her a scandalized look.

"-But I need you to just _calm_ _down_, Yang!"

Silver eyes glinted dangerously as she stared them down and as she finally received the quiet she'd been hoping for she suddenly realized that it was just a little _too _quiet.

Ruby slowly craned her neck away from the still forms of her sisters, glaring awkwardly across the hall at the assorted students that had gathered for breakfast.

Thankfully as it was so early there weren't too many people however she could see a scandalized look on the deputy headmistress' face and as she realized that there were a bunch of unknowns watching her little breakdown she found herself wilting, face flushing a vibrant red as she sunk back into her seat. "Eep."

A sharp crack resounded through the hall as the prim-and-proper woman stood, face the epitome of stoicism. "I believe you students have classes shortly, please make way to your respective lessons immediately." She spoke and Ruby was too busy blushing halfway underneath the table to realize that the clock showed that they only had ten minutes until their first day of classes.

In lieu of words Yang quickly shot to her feet, grabbing her by the arm and ignoring her other two teammates protests as she hurriedly pulled the younger girl's still form from the table behind her. "We'll talk about this later." She promised, pursing her lips as her younger sister looked away sheepishly.

Behind the two Xiao stifled a groan, turning her head slightly to meet the agitated stare of her 'other sister'. "Welcome to Beacon." She jabbed and despite her mood Yin chuckled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

-X- -X-

It was strange that Peter Port personally knew their father and yet he glanced over the _four _daughters of Taiyang Xiao Long as though nothing were even remotely off – Logically even the bombastic huntsman had to know _something _was off and yet…

A quick glance and the much, _much _older man winked at her and Yang shuddered, stifling the motion with a stilted chuckle as she continued pretending to read her textbook.

Her eyes drifted across the words, truthfully taking in virtually nothing in the process before landing on the book beside her and she stifled a snicker - Ruby wasn't the best of artists and becoming a huntress had probably been a far smarter career choice but that didn't mean that the rotund figure hovering mid-page beneath a text box filled with 'Blahs' was hard to recognize.

The redhead beamed proudly as she covered her mouth and she watched another pair of heads peak over the girl's shoulder, four amethyst orbs twinkling in good humour even as her mood soured ever so slightly.

She didn't _hate _the other two girls that had so suddenly occupied their lives; she couldn't hate herself after all, yet still she had to admit that something about the way they clung to her sister just kept setting her off.

Would she have been the same if they'd had different teammates though?

In an ideal world Yang Xiao Long may have reflected on that question and learned something about herself. Unfortunately the world wasn't that kind and as the blonde considered the issues facing her she instead frowned darkly, hiding her face from her sister's line of sight and examining their classmates.

Jaune would have been fine – He was harmless and clearly smart enough if he'd been assigned team leader even if he couldn't really _fight_. Weiss was better on the combat front but overall probably much the same if a little… Bitchier.

'_Okay, so maybe we're better off than with Weiss and I know at least that I can fight.' _She reconsidered, gaze continuing to roam over the few people she knew.

There was… Blake, she guessed? As though she could feel her looking the black-haired girl turned to regard her, tilting her head curiously and Yang smiled, flicking her a thumbs up and wilting as the girl blinked before turning away.

Yeah, no.

"Ms. Xiao-Long!" She jolted, lilac darting from the stoic student to their professor. "Yes, you in particular. Do you believe you have what it takes to be a huntress?"

The mustached teacher pointed directly at her and she shot her sister and co a panicked stare. "Uh, yes?" She asked more than said, wondering just what exactly the teacher could've asked but sitting up straighter as the other girls merely gave her a synchronized set of nods. "Yes, sir!"

"Excellent! Then come on up young lady!" Peter Port practically yelled and she cringed, climbing to her feet and stepping up to make her way to the front of the class. "Show us what you're made of!"

A snuffling squeal caught her attention and she paused, eyes falling on the caged grimm sitting on the other side of the room and immediately she smirked, realizing just what the teacher must have wanted. Sure enough without a moment's hesitation the older man swung his weapon, transforming the previously mounted blunderbuss into an axe and slamming it through the lock of the cage.

Slowly the boarbatusk stumbled out of its makeshift home, glowing orange-red orbs roaming across the assorted students and quickly she drew its attention, slamming her fists together and grinning as the beast charged forward.

A single step and she casually avoided the obviously telegraphed line of attack, cocking her gauntlets before slamming them firmly into its side and sending the small creature sliding across the floor where a jerking blast of her shotgun slamming into its exposed stomach finished it off.

"_Magnificent!" _Port boomed, stepping past the dissipating corpse and facing the rest of the class. "I hope the rest of you students show mettle similar to Ms. Xiao Long's in the years to come – on that note however I need to fix the new holes in my floor so class dismissed." He bellowed and she scratched the back of her neck nervously as she noticed the pock-marks littering the floor from where she'd fired her gauntlets.

"Yang!" She perked up, smiling as a small hand patted her on the back. "Good job."

As she made her way out of the classroom she shook her head ruefully, brushing off the praise as she reached out to ruffle dark red locks. "That? Please, it was just a boarbatusk; hardly the worst thing I've ever faced."

The brief fight had given her some semblance of stress relief yet as she took in the somber faces of her other two teammates she suddenly remembered what she just knew they must have been thinking of - a memory of a looming set of black figures glaring down at them with malicious hate lurking within as she tried to hide a smaller red bundle behind her.

As the herd of students milling about in the hallway began to thin she could hear her thoughts that much clearer however even as her previous happiness began to fade she felt a weight fall off of her shoulders, lilac orbs falling back to the girls beside her as she examined all three of her teammates and the realization of just _why _her copies made her feel so uncomfortable finally struck her with all the force of a full-grown ursa.

They made her feel helpless.

She couldn't control where these two went or what they did even as they walked around with her face and her eyes and her weapons with _her sister… _But Ruby wasn't defenseless anymore, was she?

Her gaze drifted to the smaller girl and Ruby blinked up at her innocently. Maybe she shouldn't focus so much on what they _could _do and start focusing more on what they _should _do?

"So," She started, pasting on a confident smirk as they watched her warily. "Who's up for making some _combo_ attacks?"

""Combo attacks"?" Ruby repeated in confusion, cocking her head and she felt a gleam of pride as her copies seemed to echo the motion, unprepared for the apparent non sequitur.

"Well we're _team _RYYY." She pointed out awkwardly, unable to resist frowning at the terrible name. "Not R and Y+3. We're sisters right? We've gotta be able to come up with some pretty awesome c-c-c-combo breakers! Right?"

"We _do _all use the same types of weapons don't we?" Xiao acknowledged from behind the smaller girl and even as Yin nodded along she hesitated, glancing down at her gauntlets in thought. "Do you think we should… Try and switch things up maybe? Not right away but maybe over time?"

Despite her talk of combination attacks the thought honestly hadn't occurred to Yang and she paused as she stared back at her, considering the gauntlets she wielded with interest.

There was no way they'd be able to just switch their weapons midway through the year but if they modified them slightly perhaps…

"Ooh, ohh!" Ruby gasped, hopping on the spot as she hurriedly darted forward, grabbing at the complex weapons covering her fists and examining them much as a child might candy. "I could give them a stun option or add wrist blades like 'Assassin's Oath' or turn the shotguns into flamethrowers or add charged or timed explosives-"

Yang laughed, pulling her hand away and covering her mouth. "Okay, okay, we'll shelf that for later – how about first we go and see about getting some team name combos down? Maybe I could blast 'em into the air and you'd snipe them?"

The thought of using grimm as makeshift clay pigeons clearly resonated with Ruby and she grinned as her sister began to vibrate in excitement. "Well what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" The redhead blurted, grabbing at her hand and darting away.

"Hey, wait up!" Twin voices cried and she smirked as she grabbed the younger girl's hand right back and ran just a _little _faster.

-X- -X-

Team training had gone surprisingly well.

That wasn't to say that she hadn't expected some sort of progress from the exercise but honestly the huntress-in-training hadn't realized just how efficiently progress could be made when you could actively _see _the flaws from the outside. Maybe she should invest in a camera and spend some more time just working on her form to try and get a leg up on the others?

'_Ugh, I'm starting to sound like that Weiss chick, all 'progress' and 'efficiency'.' _She scowled, shaking the thought free with a snort and leaned forward to rest her arms against a railing.

Ordinarily the eldest of the Xiao-Long-Rose sisters wasn't one for introspection however the last two days alone had her reconsidering the bombastic approach she usually favoured – for perhaps the first time in a _long _time the blonde had started to realize that regardless of her energy and reckless nature she needed to slow down if she wanted to ensure her sister's safety from not just outside elements but also the inside.

Even now, just being away from the younger girl and knowing that she was wandering around the campus with her two lookalikes had her hands shaking from the sheer worry.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stared out over the front of Beacon academy, forcing herself to calm down and not for the first time did she start to wonder if she was in the wrong profession; embracing adventure had always been a part of her and when she'd gotten older and Ruby had started to become even more independent she'd soon realized that whatever she wanted to do with her life she needed it to let her _move, _to discover things as she went along and enjoy each day as if it were her last.

Now, however, she wasn't even sure if she felt safe in her own dorm. It was one thing to know there was danger but rooming with two people wearing the same face? And those same people constantly lingering around the person she'd dedicated her life towards?

_Dedicated -_ It was a strong word and yet once she'd allowed it to whisper its way into her perception she found herself unwilling to discount it. She'd always known that Ruby would become a huntress and even knowing that one day the girl would outgrow her she had still put everything she had into training her, protecting her and looking out for her.

In a way she'd been the mother _she_ didn't get the chance to have and wasn't that a kick in the teeth?

"Hello Ms. Xiao Long."

She jolted at the smooth voice that had seemingly come from nowhere, spinning on her heel and very nearly settling into her usual fighting stance until she recognized the gray-haired, green-clad figure of the headmaster. "Headmaster Ozpin!" She spoke, stilling her racing heart and casually leaning against the railing once more. "W-What are you doing out here?"

Ozpin blinked, nonchalantly taking a sip of his coffee as he held the steaming beverage before him. "I run the school Ms. Xiao Long. May I call you Yang?"

She winced. "Uh, actually, it's _Yin _now."

"Yin and Yang. After the concept of duality, I assume? Fitting and perhaps easier for your professors. Does your other sister have a particular name change in mind?"

Yin bit her lower lip nervously as the older man casually meandered over to her side, gaze drifting to the students milling about by the fountain below. "She's going by Xiao now." Even as she said it she knew that whatever esteem she'd earned with her own name had just gone out the window.

A small chuckle escaped the headmaster and he smiled slightly, nodding once to show he'd heard her. "A decision made in haste then?"

From day one she'd felt like the man knew more than they could ever guess and as she squinted at his still form she couldn't help asking something that had been on her mind from the get-go. "Ah, sir? Do you… Know why I'm here?"

"Why are any of us here Yin?" He queried rhetorically and her eye twitched at the pointless question. "But if you're asking why all three of you are at this school… I haven't the faintest clue."

It had been obvious to her from the beginning that he _had _to know that at least two of them didn't belong and she chuckled awkwardly as she took a step back. "Oh, right then. Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"Hm." Ozpin examined her worried frown for barely a second before he took another sip of his coffee and when he was done he met her eyes from above his glasses. "Tell me, _Yin, _do you know what you and your sisters have in common?"

The plural didn't escape her notice and she didn't even try to contain the disdainful look she shot him. "That's a bad joke, right?"

"The thing you all have in common," He began, pointedly ignoring her huff. "Is that all three of you have chosen to become huntresses. Do you believe, however, that the three of you alone have made that decision? Because if so I'm sad to inform you that each of you took a position that altogether could very well have gone to another hopeful trio determined to become defenders of humanity."

The realization that she had cost another student their place with her own inclusion was a hard one and she flinched, fists clenching as she swallowed harshly. "Then why-"

"Because you each made that choice for yourself." He responded to the unvoiced question and with a hum he beckoned her to look out the window.

Her gaze followed his across the courtyard and fell onto the two blondes laughing as they shared a high five over the head of her sister, the three girls striding past the fountain seemingly without a care.

"Regardless of how unsettled you may be I can assure you that, as someone that has himself made a great many mistakes and enemies alike, the four of you being put on the same team, while… Unique, is not going to be a bad thing unless you, yourself, make it so."

The words should have reassured her yet she instead felt her gut clench as she watched them walk on, fingers tightening around the railing.

"You share the same look, you know." He pointed out and at the headmaster's observation her head spun sharply, eyes narrowing as she waited for him to continue. "The look of someone that is desperate to protect the person closest to them. I once taught a young man much the same and through inaction…" He trailed off, brow furrowing as he stared off into nothingness. "Rest assured Ms. Xiao-Long, all three of you care greatly for Ms. Rose – Don't let jealousy destroy you."

His final parting words were sharper than his previous attempts to comfort her yet as he walked away, gait just a little bit measured, she felt herself begin to relax.

Maybe he was right and she was just being foolish? She'd spent this whole time thinking about how she couldn't trust herself but in the end hadn't she made this choice on her own – true, she'd been influenced by her younger sister but Ruby hadn't made the final choice for her and in the end didn't that mean that she should give the others just a little bit of trust?

"One chance." She told herself, nodding to herself as she turned back to the courtyard and started down at the spot the three had previously passed through. "Just one."

-X- -X-

Xiao wasn't fond of detention - sure that perhaps should have been obvious but as professor Goodwitch stared down at her, an unimpressed look etched across her face, she felt like it was a point that needed to be reiterated.

"Ms. Xiao Long, this is the third time this week that we've been in this situation," Goodwitch began and she frowned as the woman sighed, shaking her head in consternation. "What exactly could Mr. Winchester have said that earned your ire?"

Despite her glare Xiao could tell that the woman genuinely wanted to know; the last two times she'd been sent here had been because of ignorant jerkoffs that had thought that they could get a date and that triplets were a _package_ _deal_.

The first jackass had even had the audacity to mention _Ruby_ and while he'd eventually recover she knew that since then only an idiot would even _think _about that kind of thing with her little sister while she was close.

Suffice to say her dating life while she was here wasn't going to be taking off until the others were well out of sight of the hormonal population of entitled huntsmen-in-training and she'd felt her respect for the institution of Beacon take a hit - The fact that those were only two of tens of requests was the only saving factor for the academy in her mind.

"Ms. Xiao Long?" The woman prompted once more.

"He was bullying another student." She huffed, crossing her arms as she looked away.

For a moment it looked like Goodwitch would ask for details however instead the domineering huntress merely sighed, shaking her head and mumbling something almost _fondly_ and did that ever earn a look of shock. "I admire your persistence to help your fellow students Ms. Xiao Long however violence against huntsmen trainees is not something we encourage here. Still, the other witnesses _did _inform me that Mr. Winchester was having a… Confrontation with Ms. Scarletina. I'm willing to look the other way just this once."

"_Really!?" _She blurted, eyes twinkling as she met the other woman's stern gaze.

"Yes, _however," _She continued and Xiao shrunk back. "I strongly advise you correct whatever issues you may be having within your own team right now."

Xiao leaned away, uncrossing her arms and nervously rubbing at her cheek as she took in what the teacher was saying. "I getcha teach- _Professor Goodwitch." _She hastily corrected at the dangerous look the woman gave her. "I'll try and calm down when I'm with my teammates."

"With your sister, you mean." Glynda raised an eyebrow at her sheepish expression. "I understand _exactly _what you're trying to pull here and make no mistake – Ms. Rose will not consider you the _cool older sister _just because you go around attacking your classmates."

"But-" Whatever point she was about to make was cut off by a glare from the teacher and reluctantly she hunched back into her chair, looking away from the woman's piercing gaze. "Got it, no more fighting."

The professor stared down at her in her seat and sighed once more. "I understand all too well the woes of being one of several siblings Ms. Xiao Long – tell me, have you ever considered pushing that energy of yours into a hobby?"

""A hobby"?" Her voice echoed her surprise across the room and she stared at the teacher, brushing aside the knowledge that Goodwitch had siblings as something to consider later. "Fighting _is_ my hobby."

The older woman shook her head ruefully. "Ms. Xiao Long, fighting is a part of how you'll be earning a living, it is not the only thing you can do with your time. I'm willing to part with a few recipes or book you into a few of Beacon's extracurricular activities if you'd like to perhaps practice in your spare time."

The thought of even more work had her blanching in disgust but she quickly schooled her expression as Goodwitch shot her a flat look. "So, recipes?" She asked instead, silently doubting she'd ever so much as go near an oven.

"Indeed. I'm well aware of Ms. Rose's sweet tooth – I believe the saying goes 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach', however I find that oft applies for family as well." The casual mention of bribery had her perking up and _Xiao _Xiao-Long surprised herself as she actually considered the activity. "Give it some thought, you don't need to decide today."

Cooking… No, _baking_; that was definitely not something you'd ever see Yang Xiao-Long doing and it was that knowledge that played the deciding factor – though the fact that if she got good at it her baby sister would constantly be crawling to her for treats didn't hurt.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

-X- -X-

The forest of Forever Fall looked amazing around this time of year – autumn was just coming in and as she stood there watching the auburn drift into vibrant reds and murky brown it all seemed to come together like a painting.

"Hey sis, what you up to?"

Ruby turned from her view of the forest, smiling back at her sister as she stumbled through the dense foliage practically floating around them. "Oh not much, just… Admiring the view. You started collecting that sap yet?"

Yin grimaced as she shook her hands in front of her and the redhead grinned as she saw the swath of nectar coating her fingers. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Aw Ya- Yin, this is why you should always bring disposable gloves! Here." As the younger girl rifled through her pack she failed to notice her older sister shake her head ruefully, flicking errant drops of honey onto the forest floor and blanching at the stickiness of her fingers. "And some water."

The proffered bottle was quickly snatched out of her hands and Ruby chuckled as she watched the blonde gratefully wash the sap free of her digits. "Thanks, sis. What would I do without you?"

Ruby hummed nonchalantly as she craned her neck to glance around the forest, spying a flash of gold between the trees. "Wear sap, apparently." She teased and Yin grinned as she followed her gaze to one of their other sisters. "What's she up to?"

"Apparently Goodwitch roped her into joining the cooking club." Ruby paused to shoot her a look and the blonde shrugged. "Yeah, I didn't know either. Guess it makes as much sense as Beacon having a history or art club though."

She hadn't actually known Beacon had those clubs either and Ruby shook her head as she watched Xiao work. "Well, I'm glad she's found something she enjoys doing in her spare time." The 'other than watching me' went unsaid and Yin offered up a half-hearted smile in response, glancing away in embarrassment. "But what about Yang? Where's she at right now?"

Yin didn't get the chance to even speak before a powerful set of arms wrapped tight around her front and Ruby yelped as she was dragged off her feet, struggling against the grasp of the taller, stronger girl. "Right there." She informed her helpfully.

"Yang!" Ruby growled, pausing in her struggles to glare back at the grinning girl. "That's not funny."

"It's a little funny." Yang argued, dropping the petite huntress-in-training like a sack of potatoes and snickering as her glare only intensified. "Lighten up Ruby, we've got a whole day off classes."

The casual reminder that she didn't have to spend the day bored out of her skull in doctor Oobleck's history class or listening to professor Port go on about his 'conquests' had her easing up a little and she reluctantly smiled at the twin grins being leveled her way.

"So anyway," Yang started nonchalantly, grin becoming something sharper as she draped her arms across both girls' shoulders. "What're you two doing while _we're_ collecting the sap?"

The vaguest hint of recrimination hid beneath the other blonde's jovial tone and Yin flinched slightly, sharing a guilty look with Ruby and the redhead found her irritation stifled beneath the raised eyebrow of her other sister. Slowly she raised her pack, the lid of her own jar peeking out of the top and Yin shot her a betrayed look. "Sorry, I've already got mine."

"Great!" As quickly as Yang's annoyance came it went, lilac eyes brightening into a lighter amethyst and Ruby stared, transfixed as the hues changed and merged. "In that case you can come with me and hang out while _Yin _here gets her own." Yang smirked, tossing her hair back as the other blonde pouted.

"Fine. I can see when I'm not wanted, do me no favours and all that jazz." Yin sniped without malice and Ruby drew her gaze away from the trick of the light, giggling as the two girls shot one another unimpressed looks.

Yin reluctantly looked away first, gathering her own partially filled jar and heading back towards the trees with gloves on. "So!" Ruby started, following her progress as she trudged off into the tree line. "What's the plan?"

"I wanna see what the other teams are up to – Jaune was asking me for advice the other night. I… Think?"

Ruby paused, brow furrowing as she turned away from Yin's retreating figure. "Wait, he asked you for advice but not me?" Again she paused. "Wait, he asked _you _for advice? And what do you mean _think?"_

"Well, I was kinda distracted." Yang confessed, absently scratching at the back of her neck. "Xiao was hogging the shower and I was just hanging out in the hallway trying to wrestle _Yin_ to the ground-"

"Wait, what? Why?"

"-Because that _bitch _was using my hairbrush but actually that mighta been on me, I left it lying around and they _do_ all look the same." Yang pursed her lips, tapping at her chin as she reconsidered her actions before finally just shrugging the whole thing off. "Anyway, Jaune was sitting in the hallway and he asked me how to be a team leader so I showed him by grabbing Yin and telling him you've gotta _stand up _for what you believe in!"

"And you believe in punching people in the face for using your stuff." The statement was met with a sheepish nod from the blonde and Ruby sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on. "Okay, just gonna roll with the punches myself. Let's go check on Jaune." She announced, grabbing the older girl's hand and dragging her in the direction she'd last seen the boy with his team.

Yang glanced down at their joined hands and grinned, marching forward with a longer stride and easily matching the younger girl's gait. "He'll be _fine." _She scoffed and Ruby groaned, rolling her eyes as she heard voices. "Ooh, is that-"

The voices rose in volume and both teens froze as they saw a blur of black storm across the forest floor, a trio of boys desperately trying to run in the other direction. Ruby quickly tried to grab at one of them and even as the boy with the mohawk shook her off her sister was there to pick up the slack, releasing her hand and grabbing him by the collar so hard that his feet left the floor. "What's going on?" She quickly queried.

Yang gave him a pointed glare and he hurried to speak. "U-Ursa! It's a giant Ursa and it's got Cardin!" He squawked and as Ruby darted off the tall blonde grunted, dropping him with little fanfare and dashing in the opposite direction of where they'd been fleeing.

"Ruby!" She yelled after the steadily distancing red blur only to be forced to slide to a halt as another altogether different blur nearly crashed into them. "A-ah, Pyrrha?" She stuttered, both hands falling forward onto her sister's shoulders as she tried to steady herself.

"Yang, Ruby!" Pyrrha darted a frantic glance past them across the clearing ahead, spotting her own target and gasping. "Jaune!"

The leader of JNPR didn't hear her and as they watched he fended off one of the ursa's paws with a vicious swipe of his sword, grimacing as he leaned back from the beast.

"I got this."

Pyrrha's hand shot out, bright green eyes locked onto the boy's defensive form as she blocked off Yang's progress. "Wait." She ordered, tone brooking no arguments as she watched her team leader slide a leg back, shield coming up in front of him. "Just… Wait."

Jaune swung his sword again, scoring a glancing blow across the grimm's arm and the angered beast reared back, roaring as it suddenly began to lunge forward.

With a yell of his own Jaune swung his shield across, the metal glowing a faint black and Yang blinked as he caught the limb, throwing it back and decapitating the monster with a single swing.

"_What was that?" _Ruby whispered and Pyrrha's arm fell, the champion straightening from her ready stance and breathing a sigh of relief.

The Mistralian girl turned to them with a bashful smile, shyly glancing away as she rubbed her hands together. "Some semblances are speed like yours," She nodded at Ruby. "Or clones or glyphs like Blake and Weiss. Mine, however, is polarity."

Ruby gasped. "You can control _poles_!" She announced, pointing wildly at the other girl and Yang forcibly stifled the burst of laughter that threatened to escape.

"Uh, magnetism actually." The other redhead corrected with a lilt of good humour in her voice.

Ruby looked away, red stretching across her cheeks as she carefully avoided both girls' gazes. _"Magnets are cool too."_ She murmured and Yang chuckled, shaking her head as her blush deepened.

"Well, that's great and all." Yang smirked, tilting her head as both redheads turned to her. "But aren't you gonna go check on your boy toy over there?"

"Wha- I-!" Pyrrha's eyes widened and she spun, instantly forgetting them both as she darted over to her weary team leader. "Jaune!"

As the two began to talk Yang grabbed at her sister's shoulder, steering her away from the conversation. "I think those two could use some space." She chuckled and despite her usual social awkwardness Ruby could tell when they weren't needed, reluctantly nodding along with the blonde's words.

Across the clearing in the bushes another pair of blondes watched, amethyst orbs briefly meeting as they turned to one another and slowly the two retreated from their hiding spot.

"I had it, y'know."

At Xiao's pointed words Yin shook her head, a bemused smile tracing her lips. "Maybe," She allowed, placing a hand on her cocked hips. "But I'm not about to stand by and let you get the coveted 'best sister' award without a fight."

Xiao scowled slightly at her cocky expression. "So, you caught on huh?"

""Caught on"?" Yin repeated, scoffing as she flicked the other girl on the collar. "You started _baking_, buying chocolate chips by the boatload and collecting more honey than a bear faunus and you think it's even the slightest bit subtle?" She jabbed, smirking as Xiao's scowl deepened.

The other girl's eyes flitted to her full backpack and she cleared her throat, scratching at the small traces of honey on her jacket. "I guess I have to accept that you two are around and that we have to be a team now, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna let you run off with my sister."

""Run off"?" Again Yin repeated her and this time her eyes narrowed, lips pursing as she stared her down. "Ruby is my sister and regardless of _this _that'll never change."

"Then I guess we're at an impasse." Xiao grunted, glaring back at her.

-X- -X-

Ruby wasn't the most observant of people - even she could admit that, but she'd have to be _blind _not to notice the actions of her sisters. For the most part she'd been content (ecstatic, even!) to be the focus of Yang's attention.

Ever since arriving at Beacon she'd had to focus on training and studying just to keep up with the older students; the detriments of two years less time to study were showing themselves and so having her big sister to look out for her had been great! She'd been hoping they'd get on the same team after all.

And then she'd apparently used up all her wishes on that one because there Yang was, waking her up, trying to train her in hand-to-hand after class, doing homework with her, playing video games with her and even baking _cookies_ for her.

"You okay, Ruby?" A voice whispered and she shifted, regarding the blonde figure beside her.

Yang's arm was draped lazily over her waist as she stared down at her, propped up on her other elbow and her amethyst irises seemed to glow in the dark. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly, knowing full well that if she'd said there was a problem all three girls would practically jump her. She'd already made that mistake once.

"You sure?" The older girl pressed and she nodded quickly, well-aware that if she left her sister to her own devices she was just as likely to let her imagination run wild as she was to let it go.

It wasn't that she didn't _like _the attention, honestly; it was just a little… Intense. Taking someone like _Yang _of all people, tripling her and then amping her overprotectiveness up to eleven was a special kind of strange that firmly rested somewhere between confusing and flattering and left little room for things like 'dislike' or 'annoyance' – she'd asked her to leave her alone on their first weekend and all three of them had practically dragged one another away god only _knew _where for days.

So yeah, after she'd gone through the whole 'how is this happening' and 'why me' phase she'd quickly begun to take to the new situation, but…

That same arm clutched her to her chest and she shivered, closing her eyes as she felt Yang's hold tighten, breathe rustling her crimson locks and brushing against her ear. "'night Yang." She offered and dimly she registered the other girl's "Night sis,".

She just kinda wished that when they'd stopped trying to push each other away they hadn't started pushing each other towards her.


End file.
